The Ohio Supreme Court yesterday dismissed a lawsuit filed by opponents of same-sex marriage who are trying to block from the ballot a proposal to permit marriage between two people regardless of gender.

The 5-2 decision came as Freedom to Marry Ohio launched a summer signature-gathering drive to put the issue before voters on the November 2013 ballot.

Former U.S. Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy, CEO of FreedomOhio, said the lawsuit was frivolous and filed by an out-of-touch extremist and his out-of-state attorney.

“We’re three for three, with the Ohio Supreme Court, the Ohio attorney general and the Ohio Ballot Board all approving our petition language to give two loving adults the freedom to marry in Ohio,” Kilroy said.

“Each week, more than a thousand volunteers are collecting signatures, and our movement is growing as we also ‘Court the Vote’ each weekend at selected county courthouses.”

The high court’s ruling came in response to a request by Attorney General Mike DeWine that the case be dismissed. The justices did not issue a written opinion.

The Ohio Campaign to Protect Marriage sued in April, challenging DeWine’s approval of wording on a ballot amendment proposed by Freedom to Marry Ohio.

A spokeswoman for DeWine said his office was pleased with the ruling. Lisa Hackley said of the group that sued: “They did not have jurisdiction in the case. This is an administrative function of the pre-certification process.”The attorney general has defended his handling of the process in which he deemed the group’s proposal a “fair and truthful statement of a proposed constitutional amendment.” The attorney general, who personally opposes same-sex marriage, has stressed that it was his job merely to determine whether the wording is correct.

The Ohio Campaign to Protect Marriage, which is affiliated with Cincinnati-based Citizens for Community Values, asked the court to invalidate DeWine’s certification of the proposal “because it is not a summary and is not a fair and truthful statement of the proposed constitutional amendment.” The Cincinnati group pushed the 2004 amendment to the Ohio Constitution defining marriage as solely between one man and one woman in the state.

“If you read the language (of the proposed ballot issue), it does not state that it would repeal the 2004 language that marriage is between one man and one woman,” said Phil Burress, president of Citizens for Community Values.

“Should this get on the ballot, voters should know it will repeal that.”

DeWine’s action allowed Freedom to Marry Ohio to begin collecting the necessary 385,245 valid signatures of registered Ohio voters to qualify for the November 2013 ballot.